


Moonlight Metamorphosis

by multiversequeen8



Series: Moonlit Series [1]
Category: Songs of War - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Werecreatures, Angst, Gen, Transformation, Were-Creatures
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-21
Updated: 2020-05-14
Packaged: 2021-03-01 16:54:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 18,349
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23770414
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/multiversequeen8/pseuds/multiversequeen8
Summary: It started when that thing attacked him.Something that should have just ended in a bad wound ended in something much worse.What do you do if the monster you must fight........Is inside you?
Series: Moonlit Series [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1751275
Comments: 2
Kudos: 6





	1. Lunatic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An unfortunate event leaves Igneous with an awful condition....

Igneous kept his eyes on Senn as he slept. The scent of the fire Senn had lit smelled ashy, a scent he loved. It was nice and calm. 

Suddenly, something knocked him onto his back. He struggled his eyes open as he felt his arm explode in pain. He glared up at the thing that now had his arm in its jaws and he struggled out a surprised yelp. Senn blinked his eyes open.

“What--” He stuttered out before he noticed the large beast that had its jaws around Igneous’ arm. Lava oozed out and Igneous looked over at the thing’s terrifying face. It reminded him of himself, large spikes running down the back of its head, two horn-like spikes on each side of its head. It was huge, with large, sharp teeth that could easily pierce rock. Obviously, because it had ripped a hole in his arm.

The thing shrieked as a spear rammed it through the eye. It pulled back, and Igneous saw his blood--lava?--ooze out as the thing fell back. Senn lunged forward and pulled the spear out of its eye and the beast shrieked. It hissed lowly, and opened its mouth. 

Senn kept a strong grip on his spear while Igneous wrapped his hand around his wound. _Please harden, please harden… Come on, faster than that!_ He begged. Senn stabbed the spear forwards and the thing decided to run off. 

“It’s rather fast for a rock monster…” Igneous murmured as he watched his wound finally stop bleeding. He breathed in heavily. “Alright, go on, go back to bed. I’ll make sure it doesn’t come back.” Senn looked back at the fire. 

“I think I should stay awake.”

“You need to sleep.” 

“Not until I’m sure that thing is gone.” Igneous sighed and shrugged. 

“Well, if you’re not going to sleep, why don’t we continue on our way to Conchord?”

==========

Day came surprisingly fast. Igneous continued to rub at his wound, surprised at how fast it had seemed to clot. He sighed. “So, what’s your plan again?”

“I’m going to use the beacon to head to Crown Peak. I’m hoping I can sell these weapons.” Senn said with a hopeful smile. He raised an eyebrow at Igneous’ injury. “You should probably get a healer to look at that.” Igneous chuckled.

“Oh it’s fine.” He said very confidently. “Magnorite wounds don’t work like flesh wounds--they just clot and that’s it.” He laughed again. 

“I’m also thinking about getting a horse with some of that gold.” Senn added. “I’m getting kind of tired of walking everywhere.”

“Your feet hurt?” Igneous asked, brows raised.

“Yeah.” The two of them heard rapid movement and soon caught a glimpse of a deer. 

“Oh look--” Igneous said, pointing at the deer and then he stopped. Something felt...off. He shuddered, feeling something claw at him from inside. It was an odd feeling, one he couldn’t quite place.

He looked over at the deer and his mind drew a blank. 

“Igneous stop!” Was the first thing he heard when his mind turned back on. He didn’t understand at first. _Stop what?_ He wondered. The scratching in his stomach had subsided, which was good! However, he didn’t know—-

He tasted something sharp.

Something metallic.

It tasted _good_. 

He looked down at the deer, or more so what was left of it. He looked back at Senn, who appeared mortified. Igneous felt guilty, and slightly unsettled. How come he had done this? Why? 

And why did he want to… he realized with horror—do it again? He heaved dryly. 

The clawing at his insides returned and he glared back at the deer. Senn looked absolutely bewildered now. He whimpered softly, caught between two awful circumstances, continue to ravage the poor thing or let the uncomfortable feeling continue. The feeling only stayed, scratching and clawing at him like an angered animal in a cage. He looked back at it and felt himself almost slip. No, he couldn’t let himself slip.

So he finished eating the poor thing. Senn gasped at the air, it was a long raspy noise.

“Why did you do that?” Senn asked, voice barely above a whisper. Igneous shook his head, grimacing. 

“I… I don’t know.” He said. Senn’s eyes went wide.

“That’s not very… that’s not good.” Igneous sighed.

“I… I know.” He said breathily. He shook his head again. “I felt this… weird feeling in my stomach… and then I blanked out.” 

“What’d it feel like?”

“It felt scratchy, like something was gnawing at me.”

“That’s—that sounds like hunger.”

“But—“

“I know.” Senn waved his hands around. “That doesn’t make sense! You don’t eat.”

Igneous looked back at the deer. “Apparently I do… now….”

“Do you still feel—“

“No.”

“I don’t know about that then—“

“Then let’s continue on our journey then, alright!” Igneous said, suddenly piping up again. 

Senn looked back at the trail and started to lead Igneous back towards their destination.

====

As night fell, Igneous felt that odd feeling return. It was stronger, too. He cringed at the thought of it. He couldn’t just… he couldn’t do that again!

...but the thought of it…. intrigued him. No—! He wouldn’t just.. he wouldn’t consider it! 

But it was… So tempting… He shook his head. No, no—but… no! He looked over at the setting sun and a sense of dread shot through his body. He looked back at Senn and sighed. Senn was already sleeping. He couldn’t be tempted by things like this! He needed to keep Senn safe from outside threats.

The moon rose, fully waxed and he pulled out a book. The moon was like the sun in a way, and under its fullness he could read much clearer than he would on a new—

Woah. It was… So pretty. He realized, glancing up at it. He put the book down and looked as close as he could. 

Something felt as if he was rammed from the back. He yowled, as it didn’t stop. A pain as if he was being pulled apart ran through his very veins. He hissed under his breath, every agonizing moment passing slower than it should have. 

Something moved the wrong way and snapped into an unorthodox place. His eyes widened and he brought his attention to where the snapped limb was. He eyed his leg and saw it bent at an angle it wasn’t supposed to.

He couldn’t glance at it long because another snap rippled through his body, forcing him onto his hands and knees. He sobbed breathlessly and noticed Senn had awoken, rushing to his side. Igneous would have screamed, if not for his throat suddenly drying. He sobbed loudly, as something snapped from his back and Senn fell back. Senn stepped backwards and let out a terrible noise that Igneous couldn’t make out. 

The spikes on his back lengthened in such a way that they snapped through the skin, lava pooling around his back. He hissed at Senn, who was now very far away from him. He glared down at his claws, which had lengthened to the length of daggers. 

Senn said something else, but he couldn’t make it out. His vision blurred, and he fell down, breathing heavily. He was trapped as his own form betrayed him, as it twisted into a shape that wasn’t his. 

After a long couple of moments it finally seemed to stop. He got onto his feet, and was overwhelmed with impulses that weren’t his. Strong ones, that screamed a thousand awful things. Awful things that tempted him again. He looked over at Senn, who looked absolutely mortified. He sniffed loudly at the air. His senses were sharper. He approached Senn slowly.

His impulses did not scream at him to hurt him. He realized this quickly. Senn gave Igneous a look of absolute terror. 

He turned tail and ran.

He was a monster now, wasn’t he?

=====

He stumbled through the forest, limbs heavy, mind screaming. Some part of him wanted to go back. To possibly explain to Senn that he wouldn’t hurt him, somehow. 

He sniffled. There was no way he could speak like this to Senn. He plopped onto the ground, scratchy feeling in his body still clawing and ripping at him ravenously. 

Something plopped into the grass. He perked up, and looked into the direction of the movement. It was a rabbit, one with pale gray fur that glimmered in the moonlight.

It didn’t last long near him.

He looked down at where it used to be and whimpered. Why did he have to be like this? Why was this happening to him? The sound of running water caught his attention and he brought himself close to the noise, trying to catch a glimpse at his reflection.

Maybe if he fell in this nightmare would end. No—he didn’t dream, didn’t have nightmares.

He looked into the water.

He screamed.

Before him was a thing like the monster that attacked him. He brought his heavier body away from the water and adjusted one of his limbs. He whipped it around and realized it was a tail. He almost laughed at the absurdity of it. Had he gone crazy? He looked behind his spiky shoulders, and noticed something moving. He rumbled lowly and turned around. 

“The heck is that thing?!” The figure out in the distance called at him. Igneous contemplated coming forwards, but considered that the figure probably wanted—-

He heard the figure _charge_ at him. He hissed loudly at the thing. How come this guy didn’t understand he was a monster?! 

“Dang that’s an ugly creature!” The guy yelled as he came closer to Igneous. He pulled out a sword and stabbed it into his neck. 

Or tried to, since it didn’t even come close to piercing Igneous’ skin. Igneous hissed loudly and threw the guy backwards. The man flew, and Igneous came close to him. He noticed the man wasn’t moving.

He was dead.

Igneous ran until he noticed the sun rising again. He stopped and stared at it. Fatigue gripped him and pulled him down and he knew no more.

====

“Igneous?”

“Senn?” Igneous murmured, opening his eyes. Igneous looked up and noticed the sun was high in the sky. He looked over at Senn and realized he had collapsed onto the ground. 

“What…”

“That’s something you’re gonna have to tell me, Igneous.” Senn sighed. 

“Can… Can you help me up?” Senn almost laughed and Igneous laughed too. “Give me a moment…”

When Igneous finally got onto his feet, Senn pointed towards where the trees got thinner. “You kind of cost us three days.” Senn sighed. “Igneous—do you know what happened?”

“Not...not entirely… it’s all… so… fuzzy…”

“I guess we can talk on the way then.”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: BOY OH BOY. This is a very weird story so if this makes you feel weird or you don't like it I'd say leave now because it's only gonna get worse for Iggy Wiggy Boy. There's a good reason why I put those warnings, hehe. Also, sorry, not sorry.
> 
> You have permission to hate me now.
> 
> Also, 1739 words! Woot!  
> EDIT: Chapters 1 and 2 were edited by CryztalGalaxy


	2. Lunatic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Senn and Igneous continue on their journey while also looking for a way to manage Igneous' condition.

"What do you remember from last night?"

"....It's all a blur..."

"Did you want to hurt me?"

"No... I was still... I was still me... Mostly. It felt like something was screaming at me."

"What was?"

"These... These weird impulses."

====

It took them almost a month to get to Conchord. By the time they arrived, night had fallen. Igneous had lightened up. Come on, he thought, it hasn't happened again! Maybe it was a one time thing. He must have been in the clear now, right?

He looked up at the waxing moon and shrugged. It wasn't going to happen again, stop worrying. He watched Senn head towards an inn. Senn looked back at Igneous.

"I'm going to go to bed. Are you going to be alright?" Could Senn stop asking him that? Every time he flinched, every time he grimaced, every time he showed an emotion other than happiness Senn assumed that Igneous was going to become that thing again.

No--No---He can't be angry--not now, he can't stew now. Stay calm. Maybe he could check out the locals! Perhaps someone--no, no, nobody wanted to talk to someone like him.

He sighed and eyed the shops. He could get a little close, but not too close. He didn't want to risk anyone's anger. He wondered how his ancestors could help the humans and Ardoni in the Great War, but be treated like this. He came a little closer and the people gave him judgemental glares.

He spent the rest of the night walking around the town. When day started to break, Igneous headed over to where the inn was. He stopped suddenly, feeling something was off. The scratchiness inside him had returned. No--This couldn't---why?! No, no, he couldn't lose it, what if he lost it? He eyed the people nervously.

No. He wouldn't... Not here. He wouldn't let it happen. He wouldn't let any of this happen again. He could control it, right? Perhaps the reason it happened is because he let it happen. It caught him off guard right?

"Igneous?" He realized Senn was right in front of him. How long had he been lost in his thoughts? He looked up at the sun and it had risen a lot higher than it was at the crack of dawn.

"We uhh... Need to talk."

"We can talk here." Igneous shook his head. He pointed at the borders of Conchord.

"How about we talk outside of Conchord?"

==========

"I knew it would come back." Senn said. "Something like that wouldn't just stop conveniently."

"I won't let it happen again." Igneous responded sharply. "I can't! It's....It's painful and unpleasant and..."

"Listen, I'll go get you something to eat and then maybe we can do some research on this."

"But---"

"I'm going to assume it's only going to happen at night, so we still have plenty of time."

"I don't want to eat..."

"You said you were hungry." Senn raised one of his eyebrows.

"I know but---" Igneous wheezed. "I don't want to--I don't want this to be real..."

"Well we can't go to Crown Peak with you possibly turning into a monster." Igneous sighed and he looked back at Conchord. He nodded weakly and Senn started off. He followed, slightly fatigued by the dread of what was going to happen.

Senn gave Igneous some food, and ate some bread.

"Maybe we could ask the--" Senn started, pointing over at a group of Magnorites before Igneous hushed him.

"How the heck are we supposed to ask them?" Senn shrugged and sighed.

"Yeah, fine. Maybe we could find something on this." Igneous pointed at a library of sorts."You think there'd be a book on it?" Igneous shrugged.

"It's probably considered some kind of legend. I don't know if we'll find anything but it's better than nothing." They headed into the library and searched for a little bit.

"Hey, did you find it?" Senn asked as he noticed Igneous looking at a book.

"Oh, no. I just got—" he tapped the page, which had tons of information on something he found insignificant: peas. "I just got distracted." Senn sighed.

"Well I found this." He plopped a heavy book down on the table Igneous was sitting at. It was thick, made out of leather and Igneous immediately knew it was an index of all known species. "I'm gonna keep looking. I'll leave the reading to you." He flipped through the book, and noticed it was listed alphabetically. He flipped to the "M" section and the first page was on Magnorites.

"Highly aggressive..." He read before sighing audibly. This was awfully biased, but maybe there was some kind of information on the thing he had become. He kept reading, finding more obvious stuff--how Magnorites drank lava, how they couldn't swim, how they were immune to iron weapons. He sighed, and flipped the page, hoping that there was something that he didn't know. Something caught his attention.

 _Some of them believe there is a monsterous version of their kind that lives in the forest_ , The book said and Igneous eyed it, confused. _They have dubbed these beasts the "Moonlit" because they emerge under the light of the full moon. These things, however, are probably just rumors or folk-tales to keep young children from wandering into the forest, where they can drown or be ambushed._ The book included a scribble of what the author interpreted the monster to look like. It was a large thing that sat hunched like a wolf and looked more like a wolf had offspring with a Magnorite. Igneous sighed and put it down.

So, he had a name for that thing, but not information of its habits, or how to cure such a condition. He saw Senn come over empty handed and he handed the book back to Senn. He shook his head.

"I don't have anything."

"Nothing?"

"It's got a name, but it's dismissed as a legend."

"I'm not really here to ask about what you know from the book, I'm here to tell you we should leave."

"What? Why?"

"The sun's setting."

======

Igneous and Senn walked out into the woods and eyed the setting sun.

"Listen, I know you aren't gonna lose it. So please, just stay close."

"But I don't want to... I don't want this to happen to me again." Igneous said, shaking slightly. He felt something hurt and he refused to allow it this time. He couldn't just have this happen.

"Igneous, please," Senn begged him. He felt the pain stop and he looked at Senn.

"I did it. Look! I'm fine!" he said with a hopeful smile. A couple moments passed by slowly.

Suddenly, he fell to the ground and felt everything hurt. He let out a loud yowl. He let out another desperate scream.

It stopped, the pain finally stopped. He looked at Senn, who looked as if he was going to say something. Things screamed at him, terrible things.

He lunged forwards and Senn let out an absolutely terrified scream. Igneous hissed and then his clouded mind grasped something.

_No... I can't---that's my friend... I...._

And then his mind went blank.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Sorry for the chapter spam!


	3. Dangerous

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Igneous begins to notice a conflict brewing within him.

When Igneous regained his senses, he found himself stranded in the middle of the woods. Confusion hit him. Why am I here? He thought. He looked back at his hands. They're normal? Didn't that pain mean...

Did that mean he lunged at Senn as himself? He shuddered at the idea and glanced at the moon. It was still full, so why—

"Agh!" He yelped out. The pain traveled down his back slowly, and he wheezed. How come it was going slower this time? Had fighting it earlier somehow... somehow stopped it? Slowed it? He wheezed out a loud sigh and heard an audible snap. Now that it was taking its sweet time, he could feel it, process it....

He _hated_ it. Despised this feeling and now he had to deal with it longer. It was his fault for doing this to himself. He whimpered. He had probably hurt Senn or worse.

He could feel every part of him stretch out, as if he was a plush toy being pulled by a very strong toddler. He felt his throat seize up. He couldn't make a single sound as the spikes on his back lengthened and sharpened. He couldn't even sob as each claw-like finger lengthened into dagger-like claws. He opened his mouth, trying to cry out as his teeth sharpened. He bent double, wrapping his arms around his torso. He managed out a soft whimper and fell onto his knees.

"Senn..." he gasped breathlessly. "Help... why...." he sobbed. "I don't... deserve— Rrrrrahhh—hngh—" he felt an awful pain run through his back and he couldn't breathe properly. Each breath became a desperate wheeze. He felt his legs snap into a position that could only be described as agonizing. He felt them break and readjust, shifting into a new shape that finally released him from the pain. He breathed out heavily, trying to see how bad it was, but another snap from his shifting form made him put his head down.

He felt himself—he—no this didn't make sense... he...

He felt himself start to get larger, start to _grow_. He tried to cry out, and he raked his claws against the ground as he let out a feeble hiss instead. "S...gh—hhh—ennnn." He cried. "Sehhh—hhk!—ennnnn..." he fell onto the ground, feeling things move inside him. Parts of him he hadn't seen shifting and breaking and stretching into awful shapes. Shapes that weren't his.

A final snap sounded and he felt his body settle. He felt as if he could finally catch his breath again. _I need to find Senn.... No...no he can't... I hurt him..._ he doesn't want me near him. Igneous clutched at his stomach and whimpered. _That... that scratchiness is back... I can't remember what it's called—oh. Hunger..._ He looked back up at the sky. He needed to find something to eat, but what? Where was he, how far from Senn—

He caught wind of something metallic. Something that made his stomach snarl in a messed up way. He whimpered. Did hunger make it hard to think? He couldn't think about much other than following that stupid scent down to its source. _Food?_ He wondered, as he came close to a large, moving creature. It was a stag, one with huge antlers and a large body. Something seemed to have nicked its shoulder. _It smells so nice..._

He took a large bite of the creature's shoulder. It rammed its hooves into his eyes and he let out a yowl. The stag recoiled in shock at the awful noise and he lunged at its throat.

He hit his target. He tasted that sweet, metallic fluid and the stag fell, strong horns becoming useless. He devoured the thing quickly and he noticed he felt good. _I feel... so.. so nice?_ This feels good.... He felt like he could run now. Hadn't he run before? He wondered as he started to break into a run. The wind rushed by his face and he found it fun to dodge the trees, he continued running until he felt a sharp pain in his side. He whimpered and rubbed at the source of the pain and looked up at the sky. The moon hung high in the sky. _I want to—no what am I thinking? This feels good—but no!—I... I want to..._

"Rahooooo." He felt himself stand on his haunches as he let out the odd noise. It was so.. alien to him yet so right... so natural... He started to feel himself grow tired and he wandered over under the coverage of a thick tree. _This is...wrong....this...._

 _I'm tired..._ He thought as blackness consumed him.

=====

He awoke alone this time. He tried to recollect most of last night's events. He couldn't get much detail of the pain he felt, or how it felt to be hungry. He remembered the parts his mind found good, but he didn't find solace in them. He wasn't some kind of animal! Hadn't he attacked Senn?

Senn! He needed to find Senn, needed to make sure he was alright. Weren't they supposed to head to Crown Peak? How come his normal life felt so fuzzy now? He groaned and struggled to his feet.

"Ah!" He yelped as he fell onto his behind. He felt so dizzy and his stomach felt as if he had filled it with rocks. He let out an almost inaudible noise. "Senn?" He croaked, his voice cracking at the end of his desperate please. "Senn!" He yelled. He stumbled forwards, and looked around. Did something glow white? He looked behind him. No. He shook his head, trying to clear his mind and to be able to clearly focus.

He heard something move. He saw white in his peripherals. He looked over at the figure and noticed Senn striding towards him slowly. Igneous noticed Senn clutching his arm, and he immediately felt a twinge of guilt strike him. That's what he had done...

Senn let out an audible sigh. "We aren't too far from Conchord--"

"I hurt you!" Igneous felt himself shout. Senn sighed.

"We can talk about that later, I just need to get to a healer, alright."

"But--"

"I know you weren't in your right mind, alright." Senn shook his head. "I just want to get this scratch looked at."

"Did I---"

"We can talk on the way there." Senn growled. Igneous shook his head and sighed. Senn turned around and started to walk off. He beckoned Igneous forwards. Igneous felt himself hesitate. He sighed and followed closely.

"Did I do that to you?"

"Yes." Senn hesitated. "You weren't even a monster when you did that..." Igneous gulped in a heavy breath of air.

"I can't..." he grabbed the sides of his head. "I can't keep doing this... I can't keep hurting you... I can't...I can't...."

"Once we get back to Conchord we can probably do some more research." Igneous felt his stomach ache and he groaned, grabbing at it. Senn looked back at him and sighed. "Are you seriously hungry again?" Igneous shook his head.

"No—my stomach hurts..." he murmured, holding back a pathetic whimper. Senn gave him a sympathetic glare.

"Are you sure you're not hungry again?"

"I'm sure!" Igneous snapped. Igneous gasped and shook his head again. "Sorry. I haven't been myself lately."

"No kidding." Senn said with a chuckle. Igneous laughed, but it was soft, an almost melancholy tone. Senn gave him a sad glance but looked back at the outline of Conchord.

"So, healer first, weapons next?" Igneous asked. Senn raised an eyebrow.

"What about the research?"

"Well, we have a month to do that, right?" Igneous would have chuckled, but he didn't feel the motivation to. Senn sighed softly.

"I can always find time to sell the weapons." Senn stopped in front of Igneous. "But you're suffering right now and I don't want you to anymore."

"Senn, that book said there wasn't a way to fix it."

"Didn't it also dismiss that thing as a legend?"

"Yeah, but—"

"There's got to be some more information on this thing. I mean—you're one, that thing that bit you must have been one so there's got to be some information on it."

"How about we talk about this more when you treat that injury of yours."

"Igneous, it'll probably be fine."

"I want you to get it fixed!" Igneous shouted. "You're my friend and I'm tired of hurting you and..." Igneous started to snarl. He wheezed. I'm so tired of being this... this monster...

"Alright, fine, let's go to the healer and we'll figure this out more later."

=====

Igneous watched Senn get his wound tended to from afar. He watched Senn show his wound to the man in the building and noticed something red dripping down Senn's arm. He felt his stomach hurt in a messed up way and let out an audible noise of discomfort.

_No, that's your friend don't think about that... No. You don't want to hurt him or eat him or— Eat him? What am I, an animal?!_

"Igneous, can you please stop snarling so loud?" _I was snarling?! This needs to stop! I cannot believe this._

_Oh no—what if this means I'm going to...going to become that thing again? No I can't! I just—_

He caught a whiff of the blood. He shook his head, trying to shake those awful thoughts out of his head. Senn walked back over to Igneous and showed him his arm.

"It just needed some gauze. It's fine."

"I'm not coming with you anymore, Senn."

"What?!"

"You're....You're not safe with me..."

"Listen, we're going to find a way to fix this, or at the very least manage it, alright?" Igneous shook his head.

"I'm so tired of hurting you..."

"I know, I know."

"Also, uhh... I'm hungry."

"Are... Are you kidding?" Senn sighed. "How about we do some more research?"

"What about food?"

"Are you still hungry?"

"Not...not really."

They headed back towards the library.

"How about I ask the person at the front?" Senn said. Igneous almost objected, and then he realized what Senn meant. He sighed and let Senn go up to the front. Senn came back holding a thick book. He handed the book to Igneous. "I asked her for a book about monsters." Igneous immediately flipped to the index.

"It's got a page on the monster things."

"What are they called?" Igneous' eyes went wide as he realized he hadn't told Senn what the monsters were called.

"Ahh--they've got a really stupid name."

"Well, what is it?"

"Uh--Moonlits." Senn's eyes went wide.

"Why?"

"The moon, I guess? That's what the book said." He opened the book to the section on the strange creature he had turned into before. "Of course it eats meat." He murmured. Senn looked over Igneous' shoulder.

"Does it say anything about how to fix it?" Igneous kept reading, finding information about how the thing was incredibly aggressive and would usually raid people's farms. The book also said they were devilishly fast. Igneous caught the word "cure" and looked at the section desperately.

It said there was no cure for it. Igneous slammed the book closed.

"What'd it---"

"It said there's no way to fix it..." Igneous said, feeling himself almost sob. "Li--listen. If you don't feel safe with me..."

"Don't say that. If we can't fix it then we'll find a way to manage it." Igneous shook his head.

"I--come on, Senn, I don't want to hurt you any more."

"Tell me what happens during those nights then." Igneous shuddered and let out a soft noise of discomfort. He sighed.

"I'm still conscious, except for the time I hurt you. I mean, all that... all that really changed is that I was.... I was really hungry."

"That's it?"

"...Yeah." Senn inhaled sharply.

"You're not a monster because of that, you're just---you're just hungry."

"But I hurt animals and---"

"That's... That's pretty much blaming a wolf for eating a rabbit. Why are you blaming yourself for being hungry?" Igneous shook his head.

"But I don't... I don't..."

"Do you lose it if you don't eat?"

"Yeah, but--"

"Then just eat. Last time you refused---"

"I know." Igneous said softly. He placed his head on the table and whimpered. He sighed. "Do you still want to sell those weapons?" He managed a quivery smile.

=========

"I didn't know the beacon would be that bright." Igneous muttered, nearly falling forwards. He blinked the dizziness out of his eyes and looked back at Senn.

"I hope you don't mind staying back a little bit while I negotiate the prices of these." Igneous sighed.

"Yeah, yeah. I won't take it personally." Igneous watched Senn walk off. _I might as well look around here then._ He thought. He looked at the shops from a distance for a couple hours until Senn approached him.

"I bought some supplies to make more weapons." Senn said. They went back to Conchord and Senn brought a horse over to Igneous. "I got this one because it reminded me of Timber."

"Thalleous' horse?" Igneous asked, slightly intrigued.

"Yeah. I knew him when he was younger." Senn smiled. "I heard a lot about the Great War from him." Igneous gasped.

"Ooh, tell me some!" Senn laughed.

"I'm glad you're finally cheering up a little." Senn said as he led his horse to the stables.

"So, what are we going to do after this, since you sold those weapons?"

"Well, we're going to stay at an inn tonight and hopefully I'll be able to tell you some stories Thalleous told me. Then we'll figure out where we'll go next." Senn said as he looked up at the sky. The sun was setting and Senn paid for an inn. Igneous stayed outside and Senn waved him in.

"Are you sure I'm allowed?" Senn nodded. Igneous followed Senn in. Senn told Igneous some stories before he went to sleep, and Igneous waited for daytime.

When Senn awoke, Igneous brought up a question. "So, what are our plans?"

"We could head to Etherea and look around a little bit." Senn pulled out a spear, the same one he used to stab back the beast that had started Igneous' plight. "I'm thinking of enchanting this."

"Oh cool, cool." Igneous looked behind him. "What about when... Well, you know."

"Underwood's right by Etherea, we can stay there while you--" Igneous opened his mouth and then closed it, and Senn took that as a measure of discomfort.

"Etherea does sound interesting. I hear they focus a lot on enchanting." Senn nodded.

"Yeah, that's why I'm going there. I mean, it's not as good as having access to a Song but it's a start. Maybe we could then head to Ataraxia."

"Ataraxia?" Igneous asked, bringing his head to the side.

"Yeah, it's an Ardoni province, Thalleous told me about it. It'd take a while to get there from here, though."

"If I could ride your horse, maybe we'd get there faster." Senn laughed and Igneous let out a soft, confused "hmm?"

"Oh, I just thought of a ridiculous idea. You're incredibly fast as that monster and I thought you could keep up with a running horse like that. Well, we'd have to find that out, but if you could maintain that."

"I don't want to be that thing for a night a month, let alone longer..." Senn sighed.

"I know."

======

It took them a couple days to get to Etherea. Senn tiredly stumbled off his horse and Igneous looked back up at the sky. The moon was just a tad above half full. He shivered at the thought of becoming that thing again. Senn slumped over, asleep on his horse. Igneous decided he was going to keep his guard up. There was no way he was going to get Senn into an inn, as if they'd let a Magnorite open an inn room for an unconscious Ardoni. Too suspicious, even if Senn was just asleep.

Igneous glared up at the sky nervously. He looked back at Senn, who looked so peaceful. He sighed. Maybe Senn was right, maybe he could--

He felt something strike his back. This was different from the pain that overtook him the last two times. He turned around and felt something strike his arm. It was a shimmering bright blue color. A diamond pickaxe, one of the very few things that could pierce him. He grabbed the wrist of his assailant, and glared into their eyes. His assailant hissed.

"I knew your kind were up to no good. Now get your hands off that Ardoni--"

"Senn!" Igneous shouted and Senn blinked his eyes open.

"What, Igneous?"

"You're friends with this thing?!"

"Uh, yeah. Igneous is my friend, not a 'thing.'" Igneous felt lava pool down his back. His assailant sneered and gave him another smack to the face, before running off. Igneous grabbed at his back, and felt the wounds already closing. He sighed and looked back at Senn, who looked absolutely mortified.

"Oh, it's fine, I've had people try to kill me before."

"WHAT."

"Did I stutter? Ok, let me repeat--"

"No, I mean--why? What?!"

"People don't like Magnorites. I bet they don't like the version I am now, either." Senn shook his head.

"You shouldn't have to deal with this."

Morning came incredibly slow after that. Igneous felt hollow after this as he realized that Senn was right. He shuddered as things clicked. People were cruel and he couldn't just change that.

Apparently becoming a monster every month wasn't the worst of his problems.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter of the spam


	4. Do You Know Rage?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Igneous tries to find a cure and Senn disappears.

Senn headed into an enchanter's shop and Igneous watched from the distance as he always did. He hated the fact that Senn was right. If he came close, the vendor would overcharge Senn or be rude to him or any other unpleasant thing in the world he could think of.

Hate. That was a strong word. Maybe he just disl--no, no, he had to be upset about this. Who else was going to be upset for him? Senn was, but he wasn't him. It was normal to hate things, so why wouldn't he let himself hate? People hated him, but why? Why couldn't they just see him as who he was, not what he was?

He was so lucky to have Senn, someone so willing to care about him, someone who saw him as a person, not some aggressive thing. Leaving him would make his situation worse, so why did he consider it? He liked Senn, he was a great friend. He felt a hand grab his arm and he nearly freaked, before he noticed it was just Senn. It was as if he had called him there with his mind.

"Look at this!" Senn said, showing Igneous the weapon, now fitted with a brilliant gleam. Igneous felt himself smile, the weapon was pretty. He felt the awfulness return--he felt the need to apologize.

"Senn, I'm sorry for almost leaving you behind." Igneous said softly. Senn sighed.

"It's fine, I understand why you'd want to leave. I get it, you don't want me to get hurt." Senn smiled. "That's nice for you to consider me, but I really don't want you to leave. I care about you a lot."

"You--you do? I-I mean--I do too." Igneous stopped talking and managed out a soft chuckle. The two of them continued walking and Senn brought up another idea.

"What if there's some weird way to cure it?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I know you probably can't drink something so maybe if you kill the thing that bit you—"

"But Senn, it said there wasn't a cure."

"Did it say what the condition does?" Igneous felt his eyes go wide and shook his head, before murmuring a swear.

"I didn't read that." Senn gaped his mouth open like a fish.

"You're telling me you just looked for the cure? You didn't look for any words on how it would progress?"

"No, I didn't." Senn groaned audibly.

"Oh that's just stupid. Igneous, we need to figure out what will happen." Senn looked as if he had an idea. "They probably have more information here. If not, then they might just have the book we got earlier." Senn disappeared for a moment before bringing the same book from a couple days ago to Igneous.

"You bought it?"

"Yeah? We're going to be traveling so we might as well have an index on monsters. I always thought the Badlands sounded interesting but it's full of undead."

"Give me the book." Igneous said, almost panicking. Senn handed him the book and Igneous glared at the section of the book that talked about the Moonlit.

_While there is no known cure, there are rumors that killing the one that attacked you is a way to cure it. Of course, there's always the guaranteed cure of death. There are rumors that these things grow more feral with every turn, however since they are a rarity, it is impossible to know if any of this is true. Very rarely are deaths of individuals reported at the hands of Moonlits._

_One can only imagine the origin of these creatures. An adaptation to the forest gone wrong? Some meddling in magic? A curse placed on a Magnorite by a begrudged friend or family member? Perhaps some who have this condition don't even consider it a curse any more, but instead a blessing. The effects on one's lifespan are unknown as well, as people have compared them to the folklore of werewolves, who can apparently live forever as long as one does not use a silver arrow. However, Moonlits seem to not have such a weakness._

Igneous closed the book again and handed it to Senn. "Apparently killing the original one is a way to fix me."

"What? The last book you read never said that."

"This one might have been updated? I'm unsure, but I don't know where we'd find the original thing that got me."

"Did it say it was a definite cure?"

"No." Igneous sighed. "I don't like the idea of killing anything, even if it caused this nightmare. If what the book said is true, that thing might have snapped and gone completely feral."

"Wait—what?!"

"Apparently they get a bit more feral each time they become that thing."

"Don't you mean 'we'? Igneous, you're one!" Igneous shook his head.

"That doesn't make any sense! I can't go feral or—"

"Why do you keep saying apparently?"

"Because it's not confirmed?" Senn lightened up a little.

"Then there's a chance you won't even go feral. Did it say anything more about them?"

"Well, it said not a lot of people die to them. So there is a chance that even if I went crazy I wouldn't hurt you." Igneous sighed. "But I already proved that wrong."

"Actually, you ran off after you attacked me. You looked as if you regretted it. A lot." Senn sighed. "I am going to guess these things work like animals do, and if so, that means you wouldn't attack me because we're friends. Probably, I wouldn't know because apparently we have no real reliable information to go off of."

"So, we're going to retrace our steps and go after that thing?"

"I mean, do we have much of a choice?"

=======

Igneous and Senn headed a couple days out from Etherea. Igneous led Senn into the Underwood.

"This isn't where the thing attacked us. Why are you going here?"

"I have this—this feeling it's here. I can sense it, somehow."

"Do you sense anything else?"

"That something is about to go really wrong." Igneous said with a slight grimace. "Stay close. Please."

Silence fell. Igneous felt the sun shine on him through the trees and felt his heart sink. Dread creeped down his back. We aren't alone out here. He realized with fear.

Heavy footsteps sounded off in the distance. They started off slow and then they closed in rapidly. Igneous saw the thing's face through the trees. It was huge, and it's rocky skin was dark gray. Igneous motioned Senn behind him and the thing smiled, its grin filled with incredibly sharp teeth.

"Ah, it's you." It said, baring its teeth with every word.

"It—it speaks?!" Senn almost shouted behind Igneous. The thing smiled again devilishly, before laughing, it was an incredibly unpleasant noise. Igneous thought it sounded like metal being scraped against a tree that was currently on fire.

"Of course." The creature hissed, still wearing its creepy smile. "What do you expect me to be, an animal?"

"Well that's what the books say." The creature laughed again.

"It's probably because we have to eat and people don't like their animals being munched on, do they? Well too bad, we don't like having our entire life ruined by their stupid prejudices."

"I can see that, but couldn't you just eat wild animals then? Why are you a monster during the day?" Igneous responded sharply.

"I have made a choice to stay like this." It smiled again. "Doesn't it feel wonderful to run free, without anyone ordering you around? I knew you were worth a spear to the eye."

"No it doesn't!" Igneous shouted. "This is ruining my life."

"Awww, how cute. Just wait until you see forty years, ooh! Or fifty! A hundred? Tell me, are you a fan of dying at thirty?" Igneous didn't answer. "I have seen eighty years so far and sixty of them have been great."

"You forced this onto me. What makes you think that's okay?"

"It is right. You might not understand it now, but you have such a long life to figure it out! If you stay safe enough, then you will have until the end of the world to finally understand that I was right."

"You're a monster." Senn said. "Igneous has been suffering and you just tell him that you're right? You don't feel any—" the thing lunged forwards, but Igneous stepped in front of Senn and got the brunt of the thing's weight.

"You dare defend him?" The thing sneered. "You are worth nothing to me!" He rammed Igneous downward and raked his claws down his front, before turning his attention back to Senn. "Just you and me, softie."

Now he was going to die and Senn was probably going to die too. It was his fault for thinking he could somehow fix this. His fault. Senn was going to die.

Something hurt, but it was stronger than the dull throbbing pain of the awful scratches that thing had left him with. He glared over at where Senn was supposed to be, but he couldn't find him. The Moonlit next to him just sniffed at the air before looking back at him and smiling. He was going to die and that awful smile was going to be the last thing he saw.

No, he couldn't just die here. Senn was going to die if he died and that wouldn't be fair. None of this was fair. That thing... that thing...

He felt rage burn within him. This thing had hurt him twice, and now it wanted to go after Senn? How dare it! He hissed lowly, struggling onto his feet. He felt himself fall forwards, but this time he knew he wasn't dying. He hissed at that thing again, but louder, a loud angry cry for that thing's attention. Something hurt, but he barely paid it any attention. His body could break now, but his mind wouldn't. The thing turned around.

And Igneous lunged for his _neck._

=======

When Igneous came back to, he noticed Senn seemed a lot smaller than normal. He let out a soft noise of discomfort and looked down at the dead shell of the Moonlit that had started this. Igneous knew what he had done now and he looked back at Senn.

"You're still that thing." Senn said softly. "I'm sorry this didn't fix it." Igneous whined softly and brought his face down to Senn and Senn placed his hand onto Igneous' head. Igneous let out a soft happy murmur. It felt nice as Senn patted him on the head. Igneous realized he was hungry again and whimpered, pulling back from Senn.

He came back a couple minutes later after finding something to eat and laid down next to Senn again.

"...Senn." He managed to say and Senn's eyes went wide.

"You—you can talk!" Igneous managed to smile at Senn.

"It's..it's harder to like this..." Igneous said very quietly.

"I know, but it's good that you can manage to do something."

"I don't know... how I'm going to..." Igneous found himself needing to catch his breath more often when he spoke. "Turn back..."

"Oh, yeah that's inconvenient. We can't get back to Etherea until you stop being a monster." Senn said a quick swear and sighed.

"Don't leave me." Igneous said, standing up.

"I'm not going to leave you. Especially not after you saved my life." Senn patted Igneous again on the head. Igneous felt himself smile and he let out a soft noise that he couldn't recognize. Senn laughed. "You sound like a cat."

"I—I what?"

"You're purring like a cat." Igneous felt himself grow embarrassed.

"Ohhh." He murmured, putting his hands on his head. "I don't want to sound like a cat."

"But you sound so cute!" Senn said, cupping Igneous' head in his hands. Well, he tried to, but Igneous has a huge head so Senn couldn't fit his head in his hands. Igneous smelled the scent of something familiar, similar to the smell of rushing water. He scampered under a tree and noticed Senn was now adorned with raindrops.

Senn walked over to Igneous and he backed up, shaking his head.

"What's wrong, Igneous?"

"You're wet." Igneous managed to say and Senn stepped back.

"Sorry. I forgot you--"

"It's fine." Igneous said as positively as possible. The two of them waited for the storm to pass.

======

They finally headed back to Etherea after the storm had passed. Igneous felt awfully dizzy from the process of becoming himself again, as it mostly happened when he was unconscious. But now, he had experienced it and it took a lot out of him.

 _I saved Senn as that thing? If I hadn't snapped...Would he be dead? Would I be dead?_ He thought. The form had an advantage, but it wasn't a pleasant form to take. Soon night fell and Igneous watched Senn disappear into an inn.

Day came rather quickly and soon it was noon. No sign of Senn. Igneous grew rather nervous. His friend usually didn't take that long to leave an inn. Igneous burst through the inn and looked at the person at front, who was absolutely terrified by his presence.

"Where's Senn?" The person glanced back and shuddered. "Please, he's my friend!"

The attendant pointed down the hall. "First door." They said rather calmly now. Igneous arrived at the door and opened it.

Senn was gone.

He desperately searched the streets of Etherea. People gave him glares, refusing to answer his desperate pleas for them to help him. He felt hopeless as night fell again.

And then he felt pain. Igneous struggled to stay on his feet. _No, no, no please I can't do this now not in front of these people I—_

He fell onto his hands and knees.

"Is that Magnorite trying to sleep?"

"What the heck is wrong with it?"

"Do you really want to ask it that?" Igneous felt himself shriek as he struggled to stand. _I need to get—_

Igneous fell down again and everything stopped existing. Everything except for pain. He heard screams that weren't his own and he finally felt himself settle. Something hit his back and reared up on his own two feet and roared. The crowd was absolutely mortified. He saw them grab weapons and swing them at him.

"Leave, you monster!"

"What is that thing?"

"Kill it!"

Igneous ran off, struggling against his heavy form. Hunger clawed from within him and he whined as he finally reached a clearing.

Senn was nowhere to be found.

Etherea knew he was a monster.

What was he supposed to do now?

=====

He awoke later, and his limbs felt floaty and his vision was spinning. He remembered the taste of blood, the fuzzy memory of taking his rage and hunger on innocent creatures, too many to count, too many to remember. He still felt anger burn at him, he didn't know where Senn was. Somehow, he felt as if Senn had abandoned him, but that made no sense. He would have seen Senn leave and Senn wasn't the kind to leave him behind.

So where was he? He wondered. His limbs still felt like someone had weighed them down, but he could stand up and manage a slow, limping walk. He couldn't go back to Etherea and beg them for answers, he knew they would throw him out at best. At worst, he'd get a pickaxe to the head and die never knowing Senn's fate.

"Senn!" he screamed out into the wilderness. His voice echoed a couple times. He sniffled. He was lost, a monster, and Senn was gone, possibly dead. Igneous continued until night fell again, the waning moon rising behind him. He fell forwards, before feeling himself sob. Nothing made sense now. Somehow, it felt good to cry out now. Was it his fault the people attacked him? He could talk as that thing so--couldn't he reason with them?

What if he became like the very thing he destroyed? If that thing had seen eighty years before he had killed it, did that mean he could live that long as well? What if he lived longer than Senn? What would it be like to see people live shorter lives than him? He had lived his entire life rushing through everything negative, struggling to grasp onto everything that made him smile, every line of a wondrous story, every smile, every sunset, every brilliant thing to shove into his eyes.

It was his fault for all of this anger he could feel edge and surround him. He had repressed everything negative, and now he wanted to scream. No reason came to him, just a want, a need to scream.

Senn was gone. He was a monster and people knew that now. He had been resisting every urge he had, but now he wouldn't.

He screamed until he felt his breath leave him. He coughed violently for a couple minutes. His throat felt as if he had someone rip through it, but it felt good now to finally get something out.

_What was that?_

_Something is watching me..._

He heard a loud _crack!_

And everything went

**black.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more chapter left in the spam!


	5. First Blood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Igneous finds out what happens to Senn, and learns he is not the only one with this curse.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"We got reports of a monster in Etherea! I couldn't resist taking this bugger!"

"And if it isn't one of those things?"

A loud chuckle tainted the air.

"We've got leverage, a Magnorite can be used for things." Another laugh. "I've watched these two, they're great friends."

The loud sound of rock hitting metal sounded through the air.

"Are you sure that cage is strong enough to hold it in there?"

"Of course!"

=====

Igneous felt dizzy when he opened his eyes again. He murmured something, something he didn't even know as it was too slurred to make out. His hand grasped a cold object and suddenly he was brought back to his full senses. _Ah, this is awfully inconvenient._ He thought as his mind was forced to grab the idea of being stuck in this cage now. Compared to his earlier predicaments, it felt so minor, like a thorn in his side.

He waited. He didn't know what for, but he was waiting. He had a feeling, a dreadful one. He heard footsteps and he perked up. Maybe he was going to be freed somehow. Was this a mistake? He heard something fall in front of him and he looked over at the object--no, it was a figure, a person.

He realized with great horror that it was Senn. Senn looked up at Igneous, and Igneous shivered in his cage. Someone came up behind Senn and readied a knife. Igneous heard the cage unlock and he stumbled backwards. The man with the knife waved Igneous forward. Igneous shook his head, refusing the order.

"COME." the man boomed. Igneous shook and the man grabbed the knife tightly. He struggled out of the cage and came forwards. Igneous felt something hit one of the spikes on his head. He cried out. "You sure this thing's a Moonlit?" Another figure, barely illuminated, smiled and nodded. "Then why isn't it turning? We've got its friend and we hit it, so why haven't we invoked its wrath?"

"Could we reason with it?" The man with the knife laughed before shaking his head. Igneous saw the man move the knife. "Turn for us!" Igneous shook his head.

"I don't even know how to." The man struck Senn against the face with his knife. Igneous screamed and then snarled. He then whimpered. "I don't know how!" The man struck Senn again. _Kill him._ His mind screamed as hunger started to claw at him. He fantasized terrible things, imagining himself ripping into the man's soft flesh. He lunged forwards, and fell flat on his face. He felt his body morph, but this time he encouraged it. He wouldn't put impulses to the side now.

His body snapped and settled into its new form. He roared loudly and lunged forwards. Now he had the man pinned to the ground, long claws already leaving marks on his neck.

"Looks like we--" the man said before Igneous wrapped his jaws around his neck. What he did next caused terror in the man's companion.

He started _eating_ him. It wasn't his fault he was hungry, right? The other man rushed forwards and Igneous lunged, ripping a good chunk of the man's face off with his claws. He didn't feel hungry anymore.

He heard Senn crying. He looked down at his bloodstained claws. He heard more voices and rushed forwards. Things became a blur, a flurry of blood.

All the blood made him _hungrier_.

When it all finally stopped, he looked back at Senn. He was terrified, shaking in the corner.

Igneous ran away.

_Why am I still..._

_Hungry?_

=====

Igneous felt himself fall onto the ground. He felt himself start to cry, but this time he let it happen. He choked out a couple sobs before he heard something.

"Hey, are you okay?" a voice that rumbled through the air asked. He shook his head, assuming whatever it was could see him. Something came through the clearing, and Igneous backed up. The Moonlit cocked his head at him. "No, no, it's okay."

"How do you deal with eating people?" He felt himself ask.

"Why did you eat them?" Igneous prepared an answer. "What happened before you did?"

"They were going to hurt my friend, but I--I... They tasted good." He heard his temporary companion sigh.

"Of course they did, they're edible. It only makes you evil if they were innocent, and they proved themselves to be a threat." They sighed. "I'm guessing you're new to this?" Igneous nodded.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Flint." She said with a smile. "You look awfully nervous."

"That's because the last Moonlit I saw tried to kill me and Senn." He sighed. "I'm Igneous." He lightened up a little.

"Senn?" Flint asked. Igneous sighed.

"He's my friend." Igneous looked around and sighed. "I don't know where he is now." So the two of them searched for Senn. It took some time, but they found Senn. Senn looked awfully disheveled in the light. It pained Igneous to see. Flint looked at him and approached slowly. Senn backed up.

"No, no, I'm not going to hurt you." Senn shuddered and looked over at Igneous.

"Senn..." He said, coming forwards. Senn grabbed his neck, trying to hug him without grazing the spikes on Igneous' back.

"I thought you had finally snapped." Igneous sniffled.

"I... I thought so too." Senn sighed.

"Please, tell me what happened." Igneous shook his head, not knowing how to explain. Flint perked up.

"He lost it to protect you, and I'm assuming the people he ate was a consequence of being hungry and angry." Igneous found the explanation weird. Flint sighed. "You're more like an animal than a monster. These impulses are scary I know, but it's not you, it's just--it's just impulses. They're only so powerful because they're new."

"Then... Then what's with that monster that started this?" Senn asked, still shaking. Flint sighed.

"There are some who give in to anger." Flint sighed. "I don't want to get philosophical, but the fact you regret hurting someone who showed you they don't care at all about you proves you are better than that."

"How do I stop being this thing?" Flint looked dumbfounded.

"That's kind of hard to explain."

"Just try." Igneous said desperately.

"Uhh, try thinking about it? It'll come to you, I guess."

====

"Where do we go next?" Igneous asked Senn later that night. Flint laid up against a tree, grayish brown rocky skin illuminated in the waning moonlight. She seemed so small compared to that large thing Igneous had seen before.

"My horse is still at Etherea."

"I can't go there." Igneous said softly. Senn cocked his head to the side.

"Why?"

"They saw me transform."

When the sun rose again, Senn disappeared into Etherea and came back with his horse. He brought out a large map and showed it to Igneous.

"Oh, we can head back to Sendaria and meet back up with your family."

"We'd have to head through the Badlands." Senn said, running his fingers down the path to Sendaria. "There's also the Heart of Ardonia. Thalleous told me it was very pretty."

"We'd have to go back to Oakendale, use the Beacon and cut through Crown Peak." Flint added.

"I never thought there would be a community of Clanless Ardoni in Sendaria."

"There isn't one, Igneous."

"Oh, I didn't know. I thought you still had a family."

"I mean I do have one, it's just my parents died a long time ago." Igneous immediately shut up, feeling awful.

"I hear there are flowers and other things in the Heart. Why don't we go there? Seems like a good idea." Flint said. "I haven't seen that place in the hundred years I've been alive."

"A hundred years?" Igneous asked.

"Yeah. That's why I'm not angry anymore. How old are you?"

"Just fourteen." Igneous stood up. "So, we're going to head to the Heart of Ardonia?"

"Yeah, but we should get food at Oakendale."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last spam chapter! I wonder if Igneous' friend is what she seems.


	6. The Heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Igneous, Senn, and Flint finally arrive at the Heart, where Flint reveals a secret she's kept for a while...

"You know, if you could figure out how to change willingly, you'd be able to keep up with Titan." Flint said before laughing again at the name. "That name sounds more like it belongs to a Magnorite."

"I didn't choose it. I don't know why they named him that." Senn said with a shrug. Igneous looked back over at Flint.

"So, you were born in K'arthen? How did you become a--" Igneous hesitated.

"A Moonlit? I wandered into the forest at ten years old, I was too angry to pay attention. Thing attacked me and I barely escaped with my life. A month later I got chased out of a town because they didn't know what I was when it happened for the first time. Almost ravaged all of them because I was that angry and that...hungry, you know?" Flint sighed. "It gets easier later on. Maybe even sooner, since you have my experience. I don't want to brag, I'm just saying there's a chance I might help. Maybe there's some kind of variable to this."

Soon they had caught sight of the Heart. They came to the lake in the center and Igneous felt himself stop. He knelt down and looked at his reflection.

The first thing he noticed was that he seemed almost larger. His features seemed sharper, and his horns had grown, curling upwards now. Not enough to be noticeable at first, but since he was vigilant, he had noticed it. He gaped his mouth open and noticed his teeth had sharpened as well. He flexed his fingers, and shivered.

That thing was melding with him. Even as himself he couldn't escape it, and even if he somehow had a cure, the scars from his body morphing every time remained. He shivered and then let out a breathy sob. Flint grabbed at his shoulder and sighed.

"I know it's scary but it will get easier." She said as he continued to sob. Flint eyed the flowers and smiled, bringing her hand off of Igneous' shoulder. She was quickly replaced by the large form of a Moonlit. Igneous shuddered at the speed of the process and then he realized something. That's why her horns were large, almost curled entirely backwards. That's why she was much larger than him, and that's why her smiles seemed so terrifying. It was because that thing had been bleeding into her for so long, that they were becoming _one_.

Did she know the lack of hunger anymore? He wondered. How much of herself was _lost_ from the first time?

"Do you know what it feels like to lay in the grass?" Flint asked, beckoning Igneous over. Igneous shivered, shaking his head.

"I don't..." He said, unable to stop himself from shaking. Flint sighed and grabbed his hand. Igneous shuddered, looking back at Senn. Flint was surprisingly gentle for a beast of her size.

"It would be a good opportunity for you to learn more about this." Igneous felt a question escape him.

"Don't you wish there was a cure?" He said, pulling his hand back.

"Maybe there's one for you." She said sadly. She then smiled again and glanced at the lake. She trotted over to him, almost circling him. "So, do you want to try?" Igneous shook his head. She jumped over onto one of the platforms and then jumped to the next. She laid down and looked down at Igneous and Senn.

Igneous tried to jump up and reach one of the platforms but he failed, almost losing his footing when he collided back with the ground. He hissed and shook his head, before trying to catch up with Flint again. He fell onto his stomach and groaned.

"You won't be able to jump up here like that!" Flint said with a laugh. Igneous shook his head.

"Even if I knew how I wouldn't do it." Igneous said, almost whining. He couldn't help whimpering slightly, this had caused him such problems. He expected Flint to pester him, but she just offered him a simple idea.

"I mean, you have a long time to figure it out. Might as well try to get up here." She said with a smile. She jumped upwards, making it onto another platform. Senn glared upwards and tried to follow her, but found himself meeting the same fate Igneous had.

"I could find a way to hang onto you when you jump up." Senn said. When it came out of Senn's mouth, Igneous found himself trusting the advice more. He shivered slightly, but considered it. He feared the pain, the hunger, the idea that something could easily go wrong. He looked back at Senn and it was as if he had read his mind. "I'm still going to be here, no matter what." He felt so weird, so wrong, considering doing this to himself. Something screamed at him to do it, to just get it over with, while another part of him begged for his old life back. No matter what he did, he knew he wouldn't forget this, ever. He looked over at Flint one last time.

He fell forwards, feeling himself twitch. He took in a big breath of air and focused. His body convulsed and he cried out, feeling his body struggle into a shape it usually forced him into. He whimpered as he felt it finally stop and noticed Flint was next to him.

"Wow, you are awfully skinny." She commented, patting him on the back. Igneous snorted and then jumped up onto one of the platforms. He felt his vision start to phase out and he exchanged one glance with Flint before his vision finally faded.

=======

"When was the last time you ate?" He heard Flint ask. His head was pounding and frankly he didn't care. He groaned in response and Flint repeated herself.

"The last time I became that thing." He managed. Flint threw a deer at him. He was too out of it to care.

"You passed out because you haven't eaten in a week." Flint said as Igneous cringed. He glared at the dead thing and murmured a protest. He whimpered, before nibbling on the deer. As soon as he got some of it in his mouth, he wolfed it down, as he was consumed by an awful hunger. He shoved his face onto the ground and Flint gave him a soft look. She let out a sad sigh, as if remembering something awful. "You're going to need to eat more often."

"Where the heck did you get all of this?" He managed to heave out, and realized he was still in the form he was earlier.

"I only had my own experience, you see. I'm glad I can give you this, because I never had someone who could. I mean, there's not much one can do as the original--"

"You're the one who started this?!" He hissed. Flint backed up.

"No, I didn't! I wasn't the only one afflicted!"

"Did you hurt anyone?!" Igneous hissed a lot louder. Flint whimpered in response.

"I didn't infect anyone I swear! At least not on purpose!"

"Would killing you end this?" Igneous asked, coming closer. Flint arched her back, let out a low rumbly noise.

"Igneous stop! You don't know if that would work, and it isn't worth killing someone over this."

"I..." Igneous heaved. Flint shook her head, looking more disappointed than angry. She then shook her head and gave him a pitiful look.

"I get it." She said, voice sounding as if it was about to break.

"No--it's not fair that I--"

" **I GET IT**." Flint yelled. "I know what it's like to be desperate! I know that this feels awful and I get it! You think I don't doubt myself? You think I like the idea that I will see people die? Do you think I like everyone thinking I'm a monster?"

"So it's not going to get better, is it?" Igneous asked, propping himself up. Senn brought his hands up to his face.

"Igneous please don't leave again."

"I don't want this to--I don't want this." He glared at the water in the center. Flint rammed her head into his side and he fell back, far away from it.

"I really hope it's the lack of food that's making you think this way." She murmured. "Because I don't know what to do if you're really that tired of it." Senn just looked absolutely mortified.

"This is my fault."

"No, it's not--"

"If I didn't act like you were some kind of monster maybe you wouldn't believe you were."

"Senn--"

"No, it's my fault, I scared you away, I made you think that you were--some kind of monster."

"It wasn't because of you. Look at me, Senn." He noticed that Flint was gone. She came back a couple minutes later and threw a rabbit in his face. "Can you stop throwing things at me? Please..." Igneous felt more tired than angry now.

"You need to eat."

"I'm not hungry..."

"You might not feel it, but you are. Your body just isn't used to it." Flint nudged him towards the rabbit. "Now eat it, please. You'll stop being moody." She said very bluntly. He sighed and did so rather quickly. Whenever one of those things was in his mouth he felt the need to eat it. He looked over at the fields of flowers and sighed.

"So, I'm guessing you still don't want to frolic through--" He would have finished his sentence if not for Flint running through the flowers at incredible speed. He felt himself laugh, but this time it was genuine. He followed after her and for the first time in a while he felt some sense of happiness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only 1623 words this time. This one was a bit harder to write. I might be a bit slower when it comes to updating from now on. Here's hoping Igneous can somehow stay happy.


	7. Calamity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Senn, Igneous, and Flint are followed by an unknown assailant.

Igneous felt grass poke at his back. He felt himself purr this time. He heard Senn laugh as he managed onto his feet again. He fell onto his stomach, sighed, and then managed to stand up. He sniffed and felt himself smile for some reason. Things seemed to be looking up.

Flint jumped over to him and then he felt something was wrong. She locked eyes with him and he knew that she had the same feeling. Senn saw their faces and his expression began to match theirs. He came over and Igneous looked behind him.

"We need to get out of here." He said as he noticed there was nothing behind him. Senn grabbed his horse and Flint nudged Igneous forwards.

_TWANG._

An arrow shot through the air. It grazed Titan's shoulder, which made him whinney loudly. Titan sped away, Flint followed and Igneous hissed lowly at the figure he couldn't see. Another arrow sped through the air, landing right in front of him. He realized with great fear that this was a warning shot. He turned around and noticed Flint was looking back at him with great fear. She let out a quick screech, a desperate plea for him to come with her. He ran over to her and she shrieked, causing Titan to shoot through the grass like a speeding arrow.

He followed as close as he could. Titan fell onto his side, almost limp and Igneous could see the outline of Crown Peak. Flint hissed as Igneous rushed to the side of his friend and his downed horse. Igneous almost hissed back but then he realized she wasn't hissing at him. People were starting to circle them and he noticed now that some of them were on the back of a huge Moonlit. Igneous noticed with great horror that it didn't have spikes anymore. _So, essentially they're riding a person?_ He wondered, feeling nauseous at the thought. Senn grabbed the back of Titan, who had managed to hobble onto his feet. Titan whimpered and Senn murmured something in a futile attempt to encourage him along.

"You guys go, I'll see you back at Crown Peak." Flint yelled.

"What--wait, wait--" Igneous started.

"JUST GO!" She screamed, before making the decision for them. She rammed herself forwards against the beast and more people came out into the clearing. Senn managed to get Titan to move and Igneous followed him closely. Senn managed to make his way into Crown Peak and Igneous collapsed outside the city. Senn would have said something if not for Igneous retreating back into a smaller form.

"Are you hurt?" Senn asked. Igneous shook his head and stumbled onto his feet.

"Titan is." He said, pointing at the Titan who seemed barely conscious. Senn brought Titan into town and Igneous followed. Senn dropped his horse at a vet. Igneous whimpered--the scent of blood made him awfully hungry.

"I need to--"

"What?" Senn asked. Igneous shivered, feeling wrong.

"I need food." He said. It was so weird for him to admit he was hungry. Senn disappeared and brought him some food. Igneous flinched, expecting it to hit him in the face, but Senn just handed it to him. He brought it to his face, but Senn said something.

"Can you not shove it down your throat? You might choke on it." Senn tried his best not to be blunt. He nibbled on his food and then remembered Flint was gone.

"Are we going to wait for Flint to come back?" He asked, looking at the outline of the woods. He remembered that she had promised to come back. Senn just nodded hopefully and Igneous took that as an answer.

=====

Her limbs were heavy, but she needed to keep running. She knew they were behind her, and if she didn't go fast enough, she would die.

_This was a stupid idea, this was a stupid idea, this was a stupid idea, this was a stupid idea, this was a stupid idea, this was a stupid idea, this was a stupid idea, this was a stupid idea, this was a stupid idea, this was a stupid idea, this was a stupid idea--_

She had managed to take most of them down, but that beast was still alive. Some of them were following her from afar, she knew that by the way their eyes burned into her skin. She would have tried to lose them if not for how tired she felt. Every movement was a battle.

Something rammed into her. Her vision faded for a moment and she fell back. She hissed, feeling her chest burn. Fear hit her, what if---what if this exhausted her?

A blast threw the man off the Moonlit. It screamed and looked back at its companion. The man only twitched in response. The Moonlit snarled at her and she backed up. Another blast fired, her chest burned, but this time it hit the thing in the eye. It hissed, grabbing at its face. She ran, knowing it was only stunned by the blast.

_**IT'S GOING TO KILL ME.** _

She managed her way into Crown Peak and heard people scream at her. She didn't understand any of their words. She knew they were angry.

She just fell forward. One last wheeze escaped her. She felt something touch her, but it was too late for her to process it.

It was suddenly cold as ice. She welcomed it, for there was no other choice.

=====

"Leave her alone, she's not going to hurt anyone!"

It felt wrong for him to defend her, since he had caused her problems earlier. He murmured a quick apology under his breath, one he knew she couldn't hear. The people still glared, but they weren't approaching any more. They just sat there, possibly planning their next move.

"That thing is a monster..." One of the people said, giving Igneous a look that said he was holding back a terrified scream.

"No she's not." He said, giving the man a smile. He hoped it would somehow make the man lighten up a little. The man just glared.

"Prove it!" These words made Igneous afraid. He stumbled back at the force of them. He knew he couldn't just drag Flint out of here. He heard Senn whisper something.

"I don't think they're going to listen to you." He said in such a way that it made Igneous flinch. It wasn't fair that people didn't trust him.

"We can't leave with her."

"Could you carry her somehow?"

"No."

"Flint, wake up, please." Senn said, grabbing at one of Flint's horns. Flint didn't move, almost as if she was dead. She clearly wasn't, Igneous noticed, because her markings still glowed. They glowed dully, but they still glowed. He saw a large wound in her side that was starting to close. The sight of it made him sick to his stomach and he felt his side ache in empathy. Igneous knelt down grabbing at one of Flint's horns, as he had noticed a crack in it.

Suddenly he heard a loud crack. He smelled smoke and he looked behind himself. Somehow, fire had materialized right by him. It seemed almost deliberate. Another noise rang through the air, a loud " _WHEE_ " and a shot of fire almost hit him. He turned around incredibly quickly and before him was the monster with the sanded back. He heard it rumble as a man approached it from behind.

"Why are you here?" Igneous asked. The beast laughed.

"We're here to kill you."


	8. Call of the Void

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Igneous finds out his pursuer is more personal than he'd ever know....

Igneous found himself diving out of the way as the thing ran forwards. The beast snarled as it fell onto its side by the speed of the impact. The man from behind the Moonlit ran forwards and pulled out a pickaxe. Igneous dove downwards in an attempt to escape the pickaxe. He felt it nick his shoulder. He held back the urge to scream and kicked away at the man, who gave him an awful look. It didn’t matter to Igneous because the man was knocked back pretty hard. He didn’t care if the man was dead or unconscious! 

Igneous looked around for Senn, eyes unable to process anything before them. He blinked, trying to focus. 

“Senn!” He cried out. He heard the monster charge behind him and he struggled to his feet. He slid away as it charged towards him. The thing hit a wall and he scrambled away, running forwards into a more heavily populated area. The thing hissed and started attacking the people around it. He felt confusion wash over him first and then suddenly felt awful. Those people were going to die because of that thing and he didn’t know why. He snarled, anger filling him now. He lunged forwards at that thing and shoved it to the ground. The thing laughed at Igneous. 

“Even if you kill me, there will still be them.” He said, pointing at the people behind Igneous. Igneous felt himself snarl and lunged forwards, feeling himself grow stronger as he changed form. He snapped his teeth at this thing, but the monster pulled back. Igneous hissed and he jumped away from the thing. He needed to find Senn, or at the very least hold the thing off until Flint awoke again. The thing lunged forwards again, but Igneous was too tired to dodge this time. The thing managed to gore his side and he screamed. The thing hissed in his ear. “Just die now and maybe it won’t be so bad…” 

Igneous plunged his claws into the beast’s eyes. The beast roared and fell backwards. He threw himself forwards and ran through the town. He stopped as he spotted someone familiar. He glared over at Flint, who refused to move. He nudged her forwards, but she didn’t respond. Her markings didn’t glow. _ NO NO NO NO... _ He breathed in heavily and felt himself start to sob.

Flint was dead.

His body grew cold and everything faded. The last thing he felt was his body colliding with the ground. 

=========

_ “I can’t believe you’re doing this for me…”  _

_ “I’m a healer, my oath doesn’t discriminate. Besides, he caught that thing’s attention, right?” _

_ “I managed to chase it away with a pickaxe someone threw me but yeah, he did most of it.” _

He heard these voices distantly, but he couldn’t find them. He was shrouded in darkness, a cold blanket he hated. The blackness lifted from most of his sight, only wrapping around the edges of the realm he was trapped in. He felt smaller, weaker and his senses felt faded. Someone stood before him, someone familiar yet he couldn’t place who they were. He walked up to them and felt himself fall forwards, tripping. The figure faced him, running over to him before falling forwards as well. Igneous heard the figure laugh and then Igneous recognized him. He smiled.

That was his brother! How could he forget? He laughed as he stood back up and his brother followed suit. 

“Come on, mom is waiting for us!” He followed, his feet pounding the ground as he broke into a run. He hurled his soft body forward and then--blackness fell again. He shuddered, unable to scream, only able to sniffle and shake as the blackness settled. From the blackness came a monster he recognized. He knew it wasn’t him, somehow, but the thing reminded him of himself. 

It held his mother in its jaws and dropped her down at his feet. Igneous saw what was left of her. All of the lava had left her.

He shook, feeling branches scratch at his back. Hiding under a cover of branches wasn’t a good idea, he had started to reason. Igneous heard his brother crying! The thing looked over towards the noise, he almost cried out like his brother, but something told him not to. He helplessly watched that thing pull his brother kicking and screaming from the darkness and it snapped him in half. He shook, shivered, wanting to scream. The thing turned away from him and he recognized an uncanny feature.

It had no spikes lining its back.

======

“Are you sure he’s going to be okay?” Senn asked. Igneous seemed so small compared to the monster he kept becoming nowadays. Senn eyed the large gash that lined Igneous’ side. It had healed slightly, but it was still open and almost gaping. A woman, whom Senn now knew was the healer, came over, holding a glass of water. Senn’s eyes went wide and he waved his hands in front of him. “That will kill him!” The healer just sighed and shook her head. She looked awfully tired, as if she had been through this a hundred times.

“It’s our only hope for sealing his wound.” She pointed at the gaping hole in Igneous’ side. “If he keeps bleeding lava like that then he will be dead before morning.” She poured the water over the wound and it closed immediately. Igneous gritted his teeth in response, pulling himself back. He didn’t wake up but he seemed awfully close to screaming. Senn grimaced, feeling slightly nauseated. He had witnessed Igneous have to suffer through one of the few weaknesses he had and he couldn’t comfort him. 

He felt like an awful friend. Senn brought a hand towards Igneous but the healer pulled him back. 

“Don’t try to wake him up, he needs to recover.” She pointed over to a bed. “You should rest too, if you can. I mean, your friend nearly dying is stressful, but you  _ really _ need sleep.” 

Senn shoved himself into the bed. He expected to have problems sleeping, but he found himself slipping under incredibly fast. Perhaps, he thought as he slipped, he was more drained by everything than haunted. 

======

He blinked his eyes open. Pain was shooting through his side. His vision felt faded and he struggled to his feet. He felt hands grab his shoulder and then they guided him back down to where he was laying. He couldn’t resist, as he felt incredibly weak.

He murmured something but heard the figure shush him. “You need to rest.” The figure said. He whimpered meekly in response. The figure just sighed and he felt her shake her head. “You’re rather difficult for someone who almost died.”

He felt himself fade into blackness again. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for no illustration this time, I'm going to do drawings for chapters that introduce new plot points or revelations worth drawing for.


	9. Unwanted Past, Unpleasant Present

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Igneous finds out more about his past.

Senn looked back at Igneous. His markings dimly lit up his rocky face. Occasionally some of his sharp, bright white teeth could be seen. However, this was only when Igneous groaned softly. Senn sighed and he looked out at the rising sun. Igneous’ eyes fluttered. The Ardoni jumped forwards.

“Igneous?” Senn smiled weakly at his comatose friend. Igneous twitched. His eyes continued to flutter. Senn shivered at the thought that this was his friend’s last hurrah, that he refused to recover. It was hard to breathe. He felt his chest jut out as he started to sob.  _ He’s going to die. This isn’t fair.  _ Igneous twitched his eyes again and Senn refused to be hopeful. 

“Senn?” Igneous asked weakly, his eyes barely open. Senn took in a heavy breath.

“I’m here, Igneous.” He said. His friend smiled. 

“My mother told me it’s not my time yet.” These words made Senn tilt his head in confusion.

“Where is your mother?” Senn floated the question. Igneous scrunched his eyes, smiling.

“She’s in my head. Do you hear her?” He laughed a little bit. Senn looked behind him. The healer was busy, talking to someone with dark skin and long, feathery gray hair. He kept seeing that individual there, but he didn’t care much. 

“Holly? Igneous is acting weird.” The healer looked over at Senn, brushed her raven black hair back and told the man something. She came forwards and caught up to them in a couple strides.

“What is he saying?” Holly asked. She looked back at the man with feathery hair who sighed before opening the door to the outside and walking away. Senn swallowed hard.

“He keeps talking about his mother.” Senn answered flatly. Holly looked at Igneous’ wound and she ran her finger down it. She blinked and smiled a hopeful smile. 

“He’s slightly conscious, which is good. However, he still has a long way to go before he will be completely alright.” 

“Who is the man who keeps coming here?”

Holly sighed. “He was my teacher. Recently he’s fallen ill and he wants to see my work before it takes him.” Senn felt his mouth gape open.

“Oh. I’m sorry--”

“It’s fine, please, don’t concern yourself with it. Just focus on your friend.” 

=======

He was dizzy. Each step he took felt shaky. Blackness surrounded him, pressing in on him from each side. 

_ Can’t see… _

_ Where am I? _

A loud screech rang through the air. He blinked and shook. Whatever made that noise didn’t seem friendly. Something broke through the darkness, the same beast that had killed his mother, his brother. It locked eyes with him. He felt pain strike his forehead and he closed his eyes. Grabbing at the aching body part didn’t manage to chase away the awful feeling. 

When he opened his eyes again, he was surrounded by a dense forest. A smaller version of himself ran in front of his current self. Close behind him was his mother and his brother. His mother tackled smaller him and pulled him into a hug. A smile crept along his small face and he looked back at his mother. 

“I love you.” He and the small frame of himself said at the same time. Blackness swallowed his reality again. It stayed for a couple moments, before dissipating. Before him was the monster again. He shivered. The thing shoved him forwards and then pinned him to the ground. 

In a voice that boomed and echoed it roared: “MY JOB IS NOT QUITE DONE.” It raised its claws to strike him. Something gray struck the thing and it fell back. Before him was Flint, markings dull while her very body glowed ethereally. The thing dissipated into dust. Flint approached him, melting back into her Magnorite form. She smiled sadly.

“You’re dead…” Igneous said. His eyes grew warm and he felt almost as if he was going to sob. Flint nodded.

“But you aren’t.” She said, before she shattered. The blackness swallowed him again.

======

“Igneous!”

“Senn?” He asked, blinking his eyes. Senn nodded. 

“You’ve been out for a week buddy.” He said. Igneous propped himself upward and hugged Senn. “Igneous?”

“You have no idea how much I missed you.” He said, hugging Senn tighter. 

“Ow, Igneous! Could you loosen your grip a little?” Senn managed to say. Igneous let him go and pulled away. He eyed the wound on his torso and noticed it had sealed. However, it was darker than the rest of his skin, a deep gray. He ran his fingers on and realized the area was numb.

“Senn… What is… What is this?” he said, his breathing starting to grow frantic. Senn looked down and closed his eyes. Igneous whimpered, fearing Senn’s response.

“The healer, Holly, poured water on your wound.”

“What?!” Igneous shouted, before hyperventilating. 

“She said it was the only way you’d survive! Or--or--”

“Or what?!” 

Senn stayed silent.

“OR I’D END UP LIKE  _ FLINT _ ?!” Igneous roared. Pain suddenly throbbed through his back. He gritted his teeth, closed his eyes and brought his head down. Senn gasped in heavily.

“Igneous please, calm down.” The Magnorite ignored Senn’s plea. He stood up, his breathing still heavy, growing more and more like panting. “You’re going to become that monster again!” Igneous grabbed at his arm before falling forwards.

And then his vision went white.

  
  



	10. The Reveal

_ Head...it hurts… Where am I? What is happening? _

He stood up. His vision shook but he could still recognize that he was somewhere in the woods. Looking around, he spotted a small mountain behind him and a large pit-like area, filled with grass. This grass surrounded a lake, which he could hear all the way from his current location. The trudge towards the small location made his legs ache but he didn’t care.

He managed to make it there. A quick glance at the lake made him realize that he had no idea where he was and he just got himself  _ more _ lost. He walked over to the lake, sat down and gave his reflection a quick glance. The spikes on the side of his head had started to seem scarred at the tips and had curled upwards more since the last time he had looked at them. He scooped some sand into his hands and then dropped it.  _ Okay, so this has to be near Crown Peak, right? I couldn’t have gone that far. _ He thought, trying to calm him down.

Something struck him and he gasped from the shock. There was a chance he had been out of control for  _ weeks _ and that he could have hurt someone. He could have killed someone.

He could have hurt  _ Senn _ . There was a chance he could come back to Crown Peak and find there were no friends, only strangers. Shaking, he stood up and looked up at the sky. The sun was setting.  _ Okay, so what’s west of here? _ He thought. A quick scan of the environment showed him that he only had one way out of this dent, the way he came in.  _ So, maybe if I follow the direction of the forest…  _

He clawed his way up and looked over at the setting sun. He looked away from the sun and found the only other option was attempting to head through the mountains. Through the path towards the sun he went. Before he was a large, rushing river. He glanced south and noticed in the distance the path back to Crown Peak. The sun was now slinking under the horizon and dread hit him. 

If he were to become that monster now then he’d have to leave. Knowing himself, he’d just end up lost again and he would never find Senn. He glared up at the sky and let out a sigh of relief. Half full, thankfully. Now all he needed to do was head to the trail and follow it.

That was simple enough, right?

=====

“Senn, are you alright?”

Saying he was alright would have been a lie. Heck, saying he was even ‘okay’ was far from the truth. 

In short, he felt like he was hit by a landslide. 

“Not at all.” He managed. Holly just shook her head before looking at the door. Senn would have looked if not for what Holly said next. 

“Kaius! What are you doing here?” Senn heard her say at the arrival of the man with feathery hair. His cedar colored eyes looked almost remorseful. 

“I don’t know how much time I have left.” This was the first time Senn had heard the man speak. His voice was rattle-like and slightly scratchy. Senn felt a twinge of guilt for Kaius. He seemed nice by the sound of his voice.

“Please don’t talk about that…” Holly said quietly. Kaius looked back at the door.

“Did your friend hurt you?”

“No he… No he didn’t. Why are you--”

“I saw him on the outskirts of Crown Peak when he lost it. Holly had told me about your friend’s…’condition.’” 

“How do you know what he is?” Kaius smiled in response to Senn’s question. It was nowhere near a happy smile, more of the smile one flashes when relieved of a large burden.

“Because I’m the one who started this.” 

Senn felt his mouth drop open. He stammered out a response. “What did… Why did you do that? Why start this?” Kaius sighed and shook his head.

“I was an idiot a while ago when I was really young. I hated Magnorites and some gained my wrath so I started this. I wanted to show them for what they really were.”

“What in the--what the… What the actual hell is wrong with you?” 

“I mean I don’t defend it.” Kaius said, almost laughing. Senn blinked for a moment, looked at Holly and almost screamed. She just shook her head, russet colored skin shining in the moonlight. 

“I can’t believe this.” She said. “You created an entire bunch of monsters, and all you have to say for it is ‘I don’t defend it’? I looked up to you!” 

“Listen, Holly. Those times were different. Us Cydonians—“

“I’m done, Kaius.” Holly said. She waved her hand away, black eyes shrinking into slits. Kaius opened the door and left. Holly looked back at Senn. “Where do you think your friend went?” 

Senn looked out the window at the rising moon. “I don’t know. I thought he was going to—“

The door opened again.

“Kaius, I said leave!”

“Is Senn still here?”

_ Igneous!  _ Senn realized. He ran over to his friend and hugged him tightly.

“I thought I had lost you!”

“I thought I killed you.”

“What?!” Senn shouted, pulling back. Igneous shook his head and looked at the ground.

“All I know is that I lost it. I didn’t know what I had done to you or anyone.”

“You just… you just ran away, Igneous.”

“I could have hurt someone, Senn.”

“You don’t seem like the type.” Holly interjected. She sighed. “You might be wondering who this Kaius guy is. Well, I think it would help you if I explain.”

====

“So, Kaius created the Moonlits?” Igneous asked. Holly nodded.

“Yep, a hundred years ago he created them because he was pissed off.” 

“How is he not dead from old age?” Igneous wondered out loud. 

“He used… he used things I don’t understand in order to keep himself from aging. Recently, he lost control of those forces and now it’s killing him.” Holly looked guilty.

“Is there a chance that I’m immortal?”

“What?” Holly said, tilting her head. 

“Flint said she had lived for a hundred years and she didn’t seem even slightly slowed.” Igneous said. He felt a pang of sadness. 

“Knowing Kaius, you’re probably going to spend the rest of eternity as a Moonlit.” Holly looked a little sad. Igneous felt his eyes widen.

“So I’ll… I’ll watch Senn die of old age?” Igneous said quietly. Holly nodded.

“Unless you can find some way to make him live longer, he’s going to die before you.”

“I can’t live without Senn! He’s my only friend!” 

“There are probably more like you out there, besides, Senn is going to live for almost 300 years, assuming something else doesn’t get him.” Holly said, trying to calm Igneous down. Igneous shook his head.

“I can’t handle this!” He blurted, before opening the door. 

“IGNEOUS!” Senn yelled. 

He stopped caring. Stomping filled the air as he took fast steps. Through the clearing he broke, and he glared up at the sky. Shivering, he walked over into the forest. A couple pains ran through his back.

They grew in frequency and then he realized it was raining. He scampered under one of the trees. A shiver ran through his back. The rhythm of the droplets freaked him out. Watching something that deadly come from the sky itself and knowing it wasn’t the only time this would happen caused him awful fear. 

He lay forward and whimpered. Knowing he was going to watch Senn die caused him so much pain. He was so okay with knowing he would die before Senn, but now he didn’t know what to feel other than sadness.

But was dying before Senn much better? The only difference now is that the sadness was shifted. 

He needed to find some way to fix this, he thought. No, no, wait, how would someone cure death? Old age? Something like that wasn’t possible. He felt hopeless. 

Another glance at the sky just made him feel small.

  
  



	11. The End?

That morning Igneous found himself looking back at Crown Peak. He spent the rest of the morning pacing. Afternoon snuck up on him rather quickly.

He found himself lying down, glaring at the sky, mind blank. Night was approaching, he knew that, but he wasn’t able to consider it. 

_ That thing that killed Flint is still out there. _ He realized. The idea terrified him. He watched the moon rise, fuller than it was yesterday. He shivered. 

“Igneous?” He heard a faint voice ask. Igneous looked over at the source of the voice. Before him was Senn, but he was covered in blood. Senn looked barely alive. His eyes were dull and his shivering was growing less frequent. 

Senn fell down and Igneous screamed. He pulled Senn up but found he was too slow to get Senn anywhere in time. He squinted and snarled softly. Placing Senn down, he felt himself shift again. After the pain subsided, he wrapped his arm around Senn and hoped he’d be able to move fast on three legs. 

======

He struggled into Holly’s office. The door frame was barely big enough to allow a Magnorite in, so how well was it suited to a Moonlit? Well, he ended up breaking the door frame a little bit.

Holly looked over at him and immediately recognized Senn. She rushed over, grabbing Senn and gently carried him over to a bed. 

“I need you to get--” She pointed to a chest “--me a healing potion. Quickly. It’s bright pink. You won’t miss it.” Igneous followed the order as fast as possible. Holly grabbed the potions and quickly popped off their caps. Igneous heard the potions hiss as they made contact with Senn’s flesh. 

“Do you need bandages?” 

“No, the wounds are closed now. Our only real option now is to let him recover.” She said very softly. “I don’t know if he’ll make it. Whatever did this got him good.” 

“Should I stay with him?”

“I’ll make sure he’s alright.” Holly looked over at Igneous. “If you need to eat, go get something now.” Igneous sighed and headed out the door. 

He made his way through the town. People glared at him. They kept their distance and it made him unsettled. Once he was in the woods, he pondered his next moves. He glanced around. 

The forest was unnervingly quiet. He concentrated. Had he heard something? Keep focusing… 

Soft footsteps in the distance, a slow tread. They were heavy too, larger than a deer. He approached slowly, hoping the cover of night would make him hard to see. He sniffed at the air. A scent of hot stone filled his nose. Stopping, he questioned the odd scent and realized there were only two possibilities now. He listened closely to the footfalls. Heavier than a Magnorite, he realized. He continued to approach, even slower this time.

He caught a glimpse of its spikeless back first. 

With a roar he broke through the clearing. The thing jumped out of his way. His throat burned. 

“WHY DID YOU KILL MY MOTHER?” 

The terrible beast only roared in response.

“WHY DID YOU KILL MY BROTHER?!” Igneous roared louder. 

He snarled at Igneous again. The monster glared at him, refusing to move, as if it was calculating. Igneous felt his throat continue to burn. 

A shot of fire hit the thing. He realized that he had done that and for a moment sat in shock. It was useless against that thing, he knew that, but it--he breathed fire? How? 

The thing lunged forwards and pinned Igneous down. Igneous hissed in pain. He shoved it off and clawed at its face. 

“Why kill me if you want an answer?” the monster growled. Igneous just glared at the thing. “That’s a terrible thing to do to your own damn father.” 

Igneous’ eyes went wide. “What…?”

“Did I stutter or something?! I said I was your father, you moron!” 

The only response Igneous gave was a lunge. He pushed that damn thing into the ground and snarled. The thing smiled.

“You think you’d kill me that---”

The thing died quickly from a bite to the throat. Igneous looked up at the sky.

His friend was injured and he had just killed someone. What was there left for him?

======

“How are you doing?” Igneous asked. A week had passed and Senn seemed to be getting slightly better. 

“Not the worst but also not great.” He said meekly. Igneous sighed. He looked at Holly.

“I’m going to have to leave tonight.” He said. Holly nodded. 

“Do you have anything you want to do before you leave?” She asked. Igneous pulled out a book. Holly smiled. “How about you, Senn?”

“I think I’m going to leave with him.” 

“You still need to rest.” 

“I’m well enough to walk with him. All I’m going to do is rest by a tree while he hunts. Besides, I’m safer with him. Nobody wants to attack a giant rock monster.” They headed outside and began to chat.  
They didn’t notice a group of men spying on them from a distance, while Igneous, Senn, and Holly were chatting, they snuck up behind them. One of the men put a bag on Holly’s head.

“Don’t do anything if you want her to live.” the man in black said, his voice coated in malice.

Igneous looked up; he was wearing a black cloak with dark armor with a hood that shrouded his face in pitch darkness.

“Let her go now!” Igneous growled, shifting back into his monstrous form.

“Woah! A Moonlit! I hear they make great pets.” The man smirked devilishly.  
Igneous was infuriated! How dare that man suggest he was a pet?!He slashed at the other men who were accompanying him. Holly managed to get the bag off and started to say something but was interrupted when Igneous roared..The man clad in steel slowly backed away, and Igneous then jumped down and tried to bite his stomach open, but his teeth barely scratched the dark armor.

“Dumb creature,” the man said as he kicked Igneous in the stomach, which Igneous barely felt.

Igneous growled and continued pinning him down.   
_How the heck am I supposed to pierce his armor? It’s almost as if it’s made out of obsidian! Wait a minute..._

Igneous put his claws under the armor and managed to rip it off. He went in, clawing at the man's stomach. The man’s adversaries screamed and fled. Igneous let out a triumphant roar and then heard people screaming. He felt his heart sink.

“Senn are you feeling alright? I think we aren’t welcome here anymore.” 

“Yeah I can walk for now,” Senn replied.  
“Holly do you want to come with us?” Igneous asked.

He turned over to face her and she seemed sad.

“Listen, this place is my home. I don’t think I can just leave. People come to me when they’re injured and I can’t just stop helping them.”

Igneous strutted up towards Holly, and she patted his head.

“I understand Holly, and wish you the best. And thank you for saving my life.” Igneous said.

Holly was overcome by emotion and started crying as she hugged Igneous’ neck softly. He smiled and put his arm around hers as well. When Holly finally let go she brushed the tears off her cheek and waved goodbye to Igneous. Igneous and Senn waved back and strolled into the forest.

“Where are we going now Igneous?” Senn asked.

“I don’t know, maybe we can decide tomorrow.” Igneous responded.  
The duo then set up a campsite when they see the sun beginning to set, Senn sat down on a log munching on an apple while Igneous went out hunting a pig. He caught one and carried it back. Night fell and Igneous noticed Senn was having trouble sleeping.

“Igneous my whole body hurts,” Senn complained.

“It’s probably just your injuries healing,” Igneous proposed.

“I don’t think it’s that. I can barely move… it hurts that much…” Senn croaked out a reply.

Senn then emitted a cold ear piercing shriek in pure agony. Then Igneous realized he wasn’t joking, but before he could do anything it happened. Senn’s limbs grew furry, his muscles tensed and bones twisted into the form of a wolf. After the awful process stopped, Igneous noticed his markings glowing faintly under his fur. He sat there in shock. How did this happen? Senn was so similar to him but also so different!

“What happened to me?” Senn asked.

“You’re—you’re some kind of—wolf thing?” Igneous responded in immaculate shock.

“What? You have to be kidding.” Senn replied and laughed. “How—“ he stopped dead in his tracks as he looked at himself.

“This is impossible! Igneous—!”

“Do you have any idea what attacked you?” Igneous asked.

Senn turned around. “Kind of.”

Igneous scanned Senn a bit then came to a realization. “You’re just like me now, Senn!” 

“I’m sorry what?” 

“I think you turned into something similar to a Moonlit, like a werewolf or something,” Igneous proposed..

“So basically I’m a monster now? I can’t ever see anyone I’ve known other than you now!” 

“We can find ways to hide your ‘secret.’ But anyways, how do you even think this happened??” Igneous asked.

“I think a werewolf might have attacked me. I don’t know, it looked like a huge wolf.” Senn explained.

“Wait it was a werewolf that attacked you?” Igneous asked in shock.

Senn nodded, and Igneous was confused. How could a werewolf sneak up on his friend? Awe turned to fear as his friend’s eyes no longer had that gleam of life, of personality. Only a terrible look of anger..

Senn snarled at Igneous. “Senn?” He called out to his friend. Senn continued to snarl lowly. Senn lunged and Igneous barely dodged. He would have stopped and pondered his situation if not for Senn continuing to attack him. Senn continued to bite and claw at Igneous, but to no avail. Igneous stayed still, refusing to use any of his strength against his friend.

“Senn, I know you’re in there! Stop this, please!” He cried out. Senn looked at him, almost as if he was pondering, remembering, but then that look was replaced with rage again. 

Igneous watched as his friend continued to bite and claw at him. He waited and waited but Senn continued to rip and claw at him. Igneous refused to fight back, hoping that his rocky skin would be enough to protect him from Senn’s assault. Senn rammed his body into Igneous causing him to roll down a hill nearby. Igneous crashed into some trees, knocking some of them down.After Senn landed, he attempted to maul Igneous..

Igneous saw this as an opportunity to retaliate against his friend and kicked Senn in his furry stomach knocking the wind out of him. He then finds his way back up just as Senn was repossessing his strength. Senn, now angrier than ever before let out a loud, enraged snarl and then charged at Igneous. Once he was close enough, Senn tried to swipe at Igneous. Igneous managed to dodge the assault and scratched at Senn’s eye.

He yelped in pain and looked back at Igneous. His eye wasn’t injured but the skin around it was heavily scratched. He whimpered, running off into the woods.“Wait! Senn come back! I didn’t mean to hurt you!” Igneous yelled. Senn didn’t even react, he kept running off until he was gone. Igneous sat there, shock washing through him like a raging river.

_ What am I going to do now?  _ Igneous thought. He sighed, realizing that if he wanted to get Senn back, he would have to follow him.

He broke into a run, hoping that he could somehow get Senn back. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woah, I can't believe this. I've finished this fanfic and it's just--it's been such a ride. This is the fastest I've ever finished a story.  
> Thank you to IDarthRenzi on discord for helping me write this chapter. Without you this chapter would have taken a whole while to release.


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